Baltimore blues scene, meet Ali & The Dt's

Ali & The DT"s are a 7-piece Blues and Soul group from Dublin City, Ireland. Originally formed in the summer of 2006, they started by playing old blues standards in Beat clubs around Dublin. They took influences from Chess Records artists such as Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters & Sonny Boy Williamson and also found inspiration in Motown & Stax performers James Brown & Otis Redding.

Over the past two years the band has gigged relentlessly while developing their sound. Last summer, they rented a log cabin in the country, and started recording. Those compositions can now be found in their original debut album "Get the first layer of Civilisation off". Ali de Mora, front man of the DT's, got the album title from a self help book entitled "How to be a successful drinker", a book he stumbled upon while holidaying in San Francisco California.

The album opens with droning guitars, a rusty harp and detuned pianos. From the destructively engaging chaos emerges a powerful vocal delivery from Ali De Mora. What follows is an epic exploration of pain, destruction, and loss. From song to song, "Get the first layer of Civilisation off" will take you through a spectrum of emotions. Songs like "Voodoo" and "Pushing Up The Daisies" show a more raw and distorted side of Ali and the DT's. While "Esprit de Corps" invokes a more laid back type of mood.

The album, while being heavily rooted in Blues, spans across many genres including Soul, Rock, and R&B.

"The sound comes from everybody stepping aside and letting everybody else have some space" explains Christian Volkmann, who plays blues harp, percussion, and does backing vocals for the DT's. This ensemble approach, combined with the overwhelming amount of talent, may be what gives the band its uniquely powerful sound.

The album is just now reaching east to America and is expected to be released in the US on April 20th 2010.

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Eleven year veteran of the independent music scene, Adam Churchwell manages bands around the Nation. His column is here to provide useful and current advice for musicians. He can be reached through www.tunrecords.com.